


The Flowers Stay On

by Lady_Vibeke



Series: Cara Dune & Din Djarin: Tales of Two Space Idiots in Love [34]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Banter, Demisexual Din Djarin, F/M, Family Feels, Flirting, Flower Crowns, Gen, Idiots in Love, Teasing, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:39:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26445013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Vibeke/pseuds/Lady_Vibeke
Summary: “Do you think we should have sex?”Din's eyes snap open. He was about to doze off, back up against a tree, lulled by the fresh air and the birds chirping above, so maybe he only dreamed the words he just heard.For good measure, he rolls his head to his right, where Cara is sitting, her back next to his against the tree, and asks, “What?”He definitely wasn't dreaming because the second time around he hears exactly the same thing:“Do you think we should have sex?”[ Not the kinky thing the title might suggest. Pining space idiots, giggling green kids, and flower crowns are involved. ]
Relationships: Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV) & Din Djarin & Cara Dune, Cara Dune/The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Series: Cara Dune & Din Djarin: Tales of Two Space Idiots in Love [34]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709416
Comments: 21
Kudos: 145





	The Flowers Stay On

**Author's Note:**

> The title is super lame. I'm sorry.

“Do you think we should have sex?”

Din's eyes snap open. He was about to doze off, back up against a tree, lulled by the fresh air and the birds chirping above, so maybe he only dreamed the words he just heard.

For good measure, he rolls his head to his right, where Cara is sitting, her back next to his against the tree, and asks, “What?”

He definitely wasn't dreaming because the second time around he hears exactly the same thing:

“Do you think we should have sex?”

She's not even looking at him. She's just asking, as though she was debating whether they should get a new speeder bike – which they should, but somehow this isn't the object of her query.

“I think we should,” she says in a matter-of-fact tone that would be definitely more appropriate for the speeder bike issue, “for recreational purposes. It'd benefit us both. You know, stress relief and stuff like that.”

They're sitting on the grass beneath the shade of the trees; a small brook runs at their feet. Why Cara would so suddenly bring up _sex_ in such a bucolic environment is beyond Din.

“Stress relief,” he repeats, quite dumbly. His brain is too busy trying to block out very inappropriate scenarios to compute more complex sentences.

Cara shrugs, “Yeah.”

Din is vaguely aware of the the kid having the time of his life chasing a frog across the shallow water. Cara is watching him, too, with a fond grin on her lips that doesn't match what they're discussing.

“What about sparring?” Din argues, and he has no idea why he's even arguing. This shouldn't be happening at all. Why does Cara love making everything awkward so much?

Cara giggles. “Foreplay?” she offers; his silence only makes her giggle harder. “What? Don't you dare tell me it doesn't turn you on.”

Din shifts uncomfortably. He bends a leg up and straightens his shoulders, trying his best not to think of how dangerously close to actual foreplay his sparring sessions with Cara usually are. Not that he's ever paid any attention to that.

“This is not a conversation we should be having.”

“And yet here we are,” Cara chuckles, like she's not the one who dragged him into this worm can. This was a normal day—a perfectly ordinary day, until she decided to make it weird for no reason.

“What's gotten into you?” he inquires. Cara responds with a sigh.

“I miss it.”

“What?”

“Sex, you dummy,” she laughs.

_Oh._

Din has never been particularly fond of sex. _'You're just sleeping with the wrong people,'_ someone once told him, and he's always wondered if that could be true. How much of a difference could it make? Sex was just sex, people were just people. He's sure Cara wouldn't have the slightest problem in finding someone to scratch this itch with.

“No one's stopping you,” he notes, although, now that he's mentioning it, the idea of Cara sleeping with someone else is making him rather uncomfortable, and that's probably not even the right word for how he's feeling.

The suggestion, however, doesn't seem to have any appeal to Cara, who glares at him like he just proposed she should skin a baby porg alive.

“No one's collaborating, either,” she grumbles, and only now Din realises she probably _means_ it: she doesn't want to sleep with anyone, she wants _him._ It doesn't make much sense: she could easily have anyone in the galaxy, she doesn't even know if he's attractive under his armour...

“Why me?”

Cara gives him an infuriating shrug. “Why not?”

“I didn't say _no,”_ he remarks before he even knows it, and while this is technically true, he certainly didn't intend to imply it's a _yes,_ which is exactly how Cara takes it.

“Is that so?” she purrs, her elbow poking teasingly into his arm.

“I didn't say yes, either,” he stresses. “Why me?”

It's starting to sound flattering, which cannot be good. She's talking him into considering this without even trying.

Cara rises her own legs and bends it to mirror Din's, then bumps her knee against his.

“If we can get each other all worked up with kicks and punches, imagine what we could do in bed, or up against a wall–”

“I'm not sleeping with you just because you're curious about it,” he cuts her off before the picture she's painting in his head gets too detailed. For his own mental sanity, he should get up and and do something else. Playing with the kid in the cold water would likely help, if only his limbs responded to his brain's requests.

He expected a long, heated debate, but, a bit disappointingly, Cara brushes off his answer with a flat, “Your loss.”

She slouches lower down the tree and closes her eyes, hands comfortably resting upon her stomach, and that's it. As easily as she brought it all up, she drops the subject and leaves Din staring at her half in shock, half in indignation. He should let this go, he knows he should, but he can't just pretend none of this ever happened, especially now that it's all his body seems to be thinking about.

“That's all you have?”

Cara's eyebrows arch but the little shit doesn't bother to open her eyes.

“What do you mean?”

Din isn't doing himself any favour by insisting, but his mouth just keeps running.

“You didn't even _try_ to convince me.”

This time Cara opens her eyes, though it's only to smirk up at him.

“First of all, I'm appalled you _need_ convincing,” she snorts, “but whatever.” She nudges him with her knee. “You want convincing? I can get naked.”

This was _not_ the sort of persuasion Din had in mind. Admittedly, Cara's tactic might turn out to be more effective than Din's more academic alternative. He's not used to being _affected_ by the thought of someone naked, and yet here he is, struggling to ignore the sense of discomfort he's starting to feel in his crotch.

“Words are always your last resort, aren't they?” he retorts. He's merely attempting to steer the conversation toward safer subjects. “Verbal communication always comes _after_ action.”

He knew this was Cara's favourite approach toward pretty much everything, but applying that to _sex_ didn't feel right.

Cara scooped her flask from the ground and took a long sip of water.

“Words are for philosophers,” she stated, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Action is more effective.”

Din almost snorted. “Born on a planet of diplomats and she rejects negotiation...”

“You want us to negotiate sex?” Cara inquires, a mischievous grin curling her lips at the corners. “Okay, I'll start.”

“That was not the point of my observation.”

“I'm confused: you wanna have sex or not?”

She _is_ serious, isn't she? She's teasing him, but she also means it, which is confusing because Din isn't opposed to the idea of sleeping with Cara; however, if what she's looking for is a fun way to fill their lonely nights, he's not sure he's the one she should turn to.

“As I said, I'm not interested if you're just curious about it.”

“I didn't say–” she starts objecting, but the kid comes trotting in their direction carrying a remarkably unremarkable piece of wood that he proudly holds up for Cara to take.

“Oh, hey!” she greets warmly, accepting the peculiar gift with an amused expression that is half a frown and half a smile. “Well done, buddy. What is this? It's so beautiful!” Her compliments make the kid buzz with enthusiasm. “Why don't you find one for our shiny grump, too?”

The child squeaks excitedly and doesn't even look at the _shiny grump_ before he darts away, off to a new quest. He trips into a rock halfway to the brook; Din is ready to hear a desperate wail rise any moment, but after a brief hesitation the kid has already pulled himself up and forgotten about the incident.

“So,” Cara begins, “you're not interested in casual sex.”

The sunlight pouring down through the leaves kisses her face in pale dots the light wind keeps rearranging into different patterns. There's a star-shaped spot of light dancing on the tip of her nose and when Din feel his heart throb for how beautiful she looks he realises he couldn't possibly _just_ sleep with her. Not without making his own life exponentially more complicated.

“No,” he confirms bitterly. He will probably never find out what it's like to _enjoy_ sex.

Cara doesn't seem remotely discouraged. “And you'd be interested in... what? Sporadic sex? Regular sex? _Marital sex?”_

Din nearly chokes on that last one. Last thing he needs is _that_ picture stuck in his brain.

“You're shameless,” he scoffs.

“Like you didn't know.” The laughter lacing her voice is so sweet and flirtatious he really can't help turning to her with a fond smile he kind of wishes she could see, just to find out if perhaps she would smile at him the same way.

“You could at least pretend to court me, first,” he complains.

“You want a pretty arrangement of weapons held together by a ribbon?” Cara jokes back. They've returned to their usual playful banter and this familiar territory gives Din a boldness he didn't have before.

“I'm not that pretentious,” she conveys with a small shrug. “Flowers will do.”

Cara shoots him a smile, and it's exactly like the smile he was imagining seconds ago: intrigued but also subtly affectionate. Din thinks this is going to end here, but when the kid comes back carrying a wet piece of mossy bark Cara takes the bark and unceremoniously drops it on Din's lap.

“Alright, fine.” With a resolute look in her eyes, she stands up and gestures the child to follow her. “Let's go, kiddo: tough guy wants flowers.”

The kid appears pleased to have gained an adventure companion and is more than happy to tail after Cara as she heads to the colourful patches of wild flowers lining the brook. As they're walking away, Din hears her mutter, “The things a woman has to do to get laid.”

As if she can feel Din's gaze on her back, she turns around and smirks at him, just for one moment, and Din is starting to wonder if there might be more about this let's-have-sex charade than he initially figured.

He watches pensively while Cara takes her time to kneel in the grass and choose the nicest flowers with her cute little helper. She's chatting with him but Din can't make out what she's saying; whatever it is, it must be very amusing, because the kid keeps tittering as he diligently follows her instructions. Several minutes later they come back with a whole armful of flowers each and very satisfied grins on their faces.

“Here,” says Cara, handing Din her share of the booty, “we picked every single flower within a fifty-foot radius. Good luck with finding a vase, now.”

The kid hands Din his own messy bunch of flowers, which Din gracefully accepts with a very touched _'Thank you'._

“What's that thing?” he asks then, noticing the ring of flowers precariously balanced on top of the kid's head.

Cara sends him a puzzled scowl.

“Never seen a flower crown before?” It sounds like a rhetorical question, but Din's eloquent silence wipes the mirth off her face. “Man, seriously, do they actually wean baby Mandos on combat juice?” She holds up a hand before he can answer. “Okay, I gotta get you a flower crown, now.”

Din's face feels warm at the thought of getting his own flowers crown. He's going to look ridiculous but he doesn't even care.

“Will that cost me extra sexual endeavours?” he inquires, dead serious, and just as seriously Cara replies:

“Depends on how good you are on your first round.”

So this is how they end up spending the rest of the afternoon: Cara sitting with the child on her lap as they teach Din how to make a flower crown. It's a disaster and it doesn't get any better at his fifth attempt, until Cara suggests he should take off his gloves. He does, and he still embarrasses himself by creating the saddest flower crown the galaxy must have ever seen, but he's having fun, and so are Cara and the kid, and in the end what else matters?

With the kid's valuable help, Cara makes Din a real flower crown—one that actually forms a solid ring and whose flowers aren't crushed and missing half of their petals—and when it's done she grabs the kid's little hands to clap them together in a round of applause they definitely deserve. She tells the kid to pick it up, then takes him into her arms and lifts him so that he can place the product of their hard labour on Din's head.

“Yeah, like that,” she says proudly. She sets the kid back onto her lap and glances back and forth from him to Din with a big grin. “Look at the two of you: the prettiest father and son in the galaxy.”

Din can't remember how they got from debating sex to _this;_ all he knows is that now he's kind of longing to take Cara into his arms and kiss the breath out of her, and if she asked again he's not sure he would be able to say no to another indecent proposal.

He feels a tug at his arm and looks down to find the kid stealing a handful of the flowers he still has on his lap. He hold them up to Cara, cooing pointedly.

“I think he wants you to have your own flowers,” Din observes.

“Yeah?” Cara face is surprised but very moved. She takes the couple of daisies she's being offered and sticks them into her braid, earning a content grin from the kid. “Okay, we're gonna need more of these, little man.”

The child immediately speeds off to a new hunt, much to Cara's delight. She's getting so good with him and he's grown very attached to her; at this point, Din believes the three of them could never be separated without causing unimaginable pain to all parts involved. The way Cara is watching the giggling child... Din didn't know a sight could be heart-warming and heart-breaking at the same time.

“Wipe that soft expression off your stupid face,” Cara warns him without even looking at him. Even if she did, how would she know what kind of face he's making? She cannot be that perceptive, and Din cannot be that transparent to her. Or can he? Can she? Are they really so in tune they can read each other without a single look?

“You're enjoying yourself,” he points out. Cara rolls her eyes in a very bad display of annoyance, so he adds, “There's nothing bad about admitting you're soft under that thick armour.”

It takes Cara a moment to recover from the unexpected comment, but when she does she fires back at Din without mercy. She snuggles closer to him, her thigh brushing against his as she nears her face to his and whispers, “You wanna know how _soft_ I really am beneath this thing? You're gonna have to pry it off with your own hands, piece by piece.”

Din's mouth is too dry for him to gulp, but he tries anyway. They've helped each other put on and take of their amours countless times and somehow he has never realised how potentially arousing this process could be. He definitely realised it now, though, and the offer did sound very appealing.

“Is this negotiation?” he quipped, only half kidding.

“Maybe.” Cara seductively runs her fingers up his leg. “What are your conditions?”

She must have missed the serious half in Din's tone, so he stops her hand halfway up his thigh and says more intently, _“Action_ is fine, but there need to be _words,_ too. Preferably _before_ action, if you know what I mean.”

Cara, who is clearly taken aback by the solemn twist the situation just took, turn her hand around his his to give it a firm squeeze.

“I know what you mean, you big sap.”

There is no mockery in how he says it, not in how he squeezes her hand back.

“I'm open to... dialogue, _”_ she declares, if a bit sheepishly, and this is what lets Din know there is more to this whole conversation than Cara was letting on. He should have known: teasing is Cara's way around things too big and scary to be addressed directly.

“There's one more thing,” he mutters, lost in the beautiful shade of pink that's surfacing in her cheeks.

“Shoot,” she says, looking a bit concerned.

His helmet tips upward as he observes the daisies in her hair. He grins to himself.

“The flowers stay on.”

**Author's Note:**

> Is season 2 here yet? I need season 2 yesterday. Have you guys seen those promo pics? I'm still trying to put my eyes back into their sockets. How could I see those pics and not have them discuss sex? 👀👀👀
> 
> It's 6.30 PM, I've spent the whole day writing and Monday lurking is right behind the corner... I hope it was worth it, at least? You tell me, I'll be off folding laundry. Adulting: yay! 😐


End file.
